State Treasurer and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Richard Mourdock spoke in Warsaw Wednesday about his run for the seat.
Mourdock, who faces Democrat Joe Donnelly in Tuesday’s election, met with approximately 50 supporters at the Kosciusko County Republican headquarters.
Mourdock said voters are six days away from making Barack Obama a one-term president.
He also said the state is six days away from continuing a tradition of Republican leadership by electing Mike Pence as Indiana’s next governor.
Mourdock said he began the campaign 628 days ago with one thought in mind.
“That was very much that I wanted to try to offer to the people of Indiana my 31 years in the business world, and government experience the last six years in the state treasurer’s office,” Mourdock said.
He said he wants to bring that experience to the U.S. Senate.
Mourdock spoke about Donnelly, and said six days before an election Donnelly still cannot tell voters who he would vote for to lead the Senate Democrats if they have the majority.
“If you don’t know six days in front of an election who you are going to vote for to lead the Senate, maybe you ought to not run for the Senate,” Mourdock said.
Mourdock said unless there are Republicans running the House and Senate, there will be more of a starving economy and uncertainty coming from the federal government.
He said there is not a small business person in Kosciusko County or anywhere in America who can say today what their tax rate will be Jan. 1.
He also said people today don’t know what their health care or regulatory costs will be Jan. 1.
He said he believes if Mitt Romney is elected president, and there is a Republican Senate and House majority, the U.S. will be on a verge of an American renaissance because people will want to invest.
“People want to know what the rules are and know that we have a tax policy that causes businesses to keep investing in the United States, not outside it,” Mourdock said.
He said what has happened in the Indiana statehouse over the last 628 days is a great model for what needs to be done in the U.S. government.
He said Indiana passed a budget and lived within it.
“In Indiana, we’ve lowered corporate taxes, capped property taxes and paid down our debt early and our credit rating has gone up and is now higher than that of the United States government,” Mourdock said.
Mourdock addressed comments Wednesday in Warsaw he made during a recent campaign event.
Mourdock said, “Even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape that is something God intended to happen.”
Mourdock later apologized for the comments during a press conference.
During his stop Wednesday in Warsaw, he said, “Politics is a series of ups and downs to be sure, but we’ve bounced back and have consistently been talking about the story I just shared.”
He said that story is that the state needs to get its economy going again.
He encouraged those who attended to vote.
“This race is something much bigger than Richard Mourdock versus Joe Donnelly,” Mourdock said.
“It is much bigger than Republican versus Democrat in the race for the U.S. Senate. This race is for the majority in the U.S. Senate.”
He said the Senate seat will determine not just the majority in the Senate, but the direction of the United States.
He said the last six years as state treasurer he has been someone who has stood up and fought for purposes he feels are right.
Mourdock said Governor Mitch Daniels has defined the Republican party as a party of purpose that does not care about entitlements or name recognition or holding an office to hold a majority or power.
“It means you stand for what you believe,” Mourdock said. “This past week I’ve stood for what I believe as I’ve argued for the betterment of this country by getting the economy going again.”
